


The Comfort of Mutual Nightmares

by TakingOverMidnight3482



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen, I love her, Post Season 3, Scoops Troop, Steve Harrington is a Good Babysitter, there aren't enough erica fics and that's a goddamn shame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 11:24:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20620241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TakingOverMidnight3482/pseuds/TakingOverMidnight3482
Summary: They were halfway through a movie that Steve honestly wasn’t sure should have ever been funded when, from down the hall, came a scream. Lucas, who was half asleep next to him, jolted, and Steve whipped his head around and shot to his feet. “Erica.”Lucas stood, and though he looked a little worried, he didn’t move. “She probably just had a nightmare.”Steve shot him a confused look. “Um, yeah, dipshit, that’s what I’m worried about.”





	The Comfort of Mutual Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> There's a lot of Steve and Robin stories and Dustin and Steve stories (though still criminally few, come on people), but I have seen literally zero stories ft Erica since Season 3 dropped and that's just not allowed.

“Steve’s in charge, okay guys?” Mrs. Sinclair said, leaning down to kiss Erica on the head as she tugged her gloves on. “Listen to him. And Erica, bed. Now. No sugar.”

Erica rolled her eyes but hugged her mother back and then trudged off to her room to get ready for bed. Steve wrapped an arm around Lucas’ shoulders and gave him a brief squeeze. “Everything will be fine, Mrs. Sinclair,” he assured the woman, nodding to the door where her husband was waiting. “Enjoy your date.”

Mrs. Sinclair smiled warmly and kissed the tips of her fingers, patting them on Lucas’ cheek before joining her husband and leaving the house, closing the door behind them. Lucas sighed and edged away from Steve. “I don’t NEED a babysitter,” he grumbled. “I’m fourteen.”

Steve grinned. “Who said I’m a babysitter? Come on, we’re totally just hanging out.” He lowered his voice conspiratorially. “Besides, Erica DEFINITELY needs a babysitter.”

“I heard that, asshole!” she shouted from her room.

“You’re supposed to be sleeping!” Steve hollered back, leaning down the hall to glare at her door. Erica poked her head out, now in pajamas, and stuck her tongue out at him, though she was playful about it. Her door shut and Steve turned to Lucas, who was still watching him doubtfully.

“You’re getting paid to be here,” he protested.

Steve shook his head. “Nah. Said I’d take it to get your mom off my back. Dustin’s mom does the same thing, tries to pay me gas money. As much as it pains me to admit it,” he said, clapping a hand on Lucas’ shoulder, “I like hanging out with you losers. Now come on. Monster movie marathon on TV tonight. We’ve only got a couple hours until you gotta go to bed.”

“Not a babysitter, huh?” Lucas deadpanned, though he was smiling.

Steve flopped onto the Sinclair’s couch and kicked his feet up on the coffee table, grabbing at the remote. “Nope. Just don’t need to get killed by your mom after surviving actual monsters.”

Lucas snorted and finally joined Steve in front of the television. “That’s fair.”

~~

They were halfway through a movie that Steve honestly wasn’t sure should have ever been funded when, from down the hall, came a scream. Lucas, who was half asleep next to him, jolted, and Steve whipped his head around and shot to his feet. “Erica.”

Lucas stood, and though he looked a little worried, he didn’t move. “She probably just had a nightmare.”

Steve shot him a confused look. “Um, yeah, dipshit, that’s what I’m worried about.”

A second scream, this one broken up by a choked sound that sounded suspiciously like a sob, and Steve was moving down the dim hallway, tapping his knuckles on Erica’s door even as he pushed it open. “Erica?”

She was sitting up in bed, hair wild, eyes wide, clinging to her sheets like a lifeline. The moment she saw Steve, she burst into tears.

Steve softened and edged into the room, aware of Lucas trailing behind him. He sank down onto her bed and held out his arms, letting the young girl crawl into his grip and sob in his shoulder. “What was it?”

She hiccuped. “Them.”

He nodded and glanced at Lucas, tilting his head to his other side. Lucas sat on the bed gingerly, eyeing his sister like he’d never seen her before. “I figured. Want to talk about it?”

She shook her head quickly and Steve hummed, shifting so that Erica was practically in his lap. He brought a hand up to her neck and used his other to rub her back soothingly, pressing a kiss to her scalp. “The Russians,” he clarified for Lucas, quiet.

Lucas frowned, eyes flickering between his sister and Steve. “You…you guys really all had to deal with them?”

“What, did you think we were lying, loser?” Erica choked out, though the malice in her voice was cancelled out by the tears streaming into Steve’s t-shirt.

“No, no, I just…” Lucas’ voice softened, guilty. “I didn’t realize it was that bad.”

He fell quiet, drawing his legs up under him into a crossed position. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“What are you sorry for?” she spat. Steve patted her back a few times, staying quiet.

“I have nightmares too,” Lucas said, staring down at the comforter. Steve glanced at him, lifting an eyebrow. “About the demigorgon and…and Will disappearing, and Billy hurting me.”

Steve moved one of his hands to squeeze Lucas’ knee, leaving it there when the teen didn’t protest. “I never thought to ask…I never asked if you were okay,” Lucas mumbled. “And I’m sorry. That shit’s scary. I should know.”

Erica huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, no shit, dipshit.”

Lucas didn’t retaliate, just stared at his hands. His fingers were shaking a little. “Sometimes I’d…I’d see Max or Dustin or Steve in the junkyard,” he admitted. Steve turned his head so that his cheek was leaning against Erica’s scalp, watching Lucas with an open expression. Lucas squirmed. “Getting attacked by the demidogs. And I’d wake up and…and I couldn’t talk to anyone. Mike had Nancy, a-and Will had Jonathon and his mom, El had Hopper, and Dustin even had Steve.”

He took a deep breath, clutching his hands together. Steve moved his hand from Lucas’ knee and over his fists, rubbing his thumb on the teens knuckles. Lucas relaxed a little and eyed Erica guiltily. “I should’ve been there for you,” he said. “I didn’t know you were even having nightmares.”

Erica had gone uncharacteristically quiet in Steve’s grip. “Yeah, well…” The snark fell away from her voice. “I didn’t tell you I was having them anyway. So it’s not your fault.”

“Think you can go back to sleep?” Steve asked, his voice hoarse from not speaking.

Erica swallowed, her body starting to shake again. “In a minute? Can I have water?”

“Yeah, ‘course. Come on.”

Steve stood, letting Erica slide from his lap and onto the floor, her bare feet silent as she forged ahead of them into the kitchen. Steve caught Lucas by the shoulder before he followed her out, and Lucas looked back at him in confusion. His eyes were tinted pink.

“For the record,” Steve said, gaze flickering to the kitchen and then back to Lucas. “You could have called me. Or Dustin. Or Mike, or anyone. For your nightmares. We all have them.”

Lucas gulped and looked down. His shoulders hunched. “I didn’t want to bother anyone.”

Steve squeezed. “You wouldn’t. Dustin calls me sometimes at 3 in the morning to talk. I’m here, okay? If you need it.”

Lucas shot him a small smile, grateful, and Steve let the matter drop. Erica came back out of the kitchen with her water, face carefully composed now, and she hesitated when she saw them. Lucas took charge, twisting and gesturing back to her room. “Come on. Has Max shown you the Wonder Woman comics she loaned me yet?”

Erica frowned, her brows crinkling. “Comic books? Those nerdy things?”

Steve coughed into his fist abruptly. “MyLittlePonyTheory.”

She narrowed her eyes at him but didn’t protest again, letting Lucas lead her back to his room, where they turned the bedside lamp on. Steve could hear them speaking in hushed whispers, and he left them alone for a bit, using the time to turn off the TV and clean up the popcorn he and Lucas had been eating.

When he was done putting the dishes away, towel tossed over his shoulder, he popped his head back out into the hall and strained his ears. No sounds.

Steve crept down the hall and poked his head into Lucas’ room. He couldn’t help but grin.

Erica was passed out against Lucas’ side, her fingers fisted in his t-shirt, and Lucas was snoring softly, a Wonder Woman comic slipping from his limp fingers. Steve tiptoed into the room, gently tugging the comic from Lucas’ hand and setting it down on his night table. He found a blanket on the end of the bed and dragged it up over them. He shut off the table lamp, leaving only the night light on, and then glanced back at the comic.

Out of pure curiosity, Steve picked it up and left the siblings alone, shutting the door almost all the way and creeping back to the living room. He was nearly finished with the first comic by the time Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair returned, and he jumped when he heard the sound of the key turning in the lock.

He looked up as the parents walked in, setting the comic down on the table and standing. “Everything go okay?” Mr. Sinclair asked as he shrugged off his coat and his wife went to check on the kids.

Steve stuck his hands in his pockets. “Yup. Both in bed a while ago. Lucas had a little popcorn, but nothing-”

“How did you do that?” Mrs. Sinclair demanded.

Steve startled and faced her, at a loss for words. “I’m sorry?”

Her face softened. “They haven’t cuddled together since they were little. How-?”

Mr. Sinclair blinked and then went down the hall to see what his wife was talking about, leaving Steve to flush and shrug. “They just…Erica had a nightmare. Lucas offered to read to her, and I did some dishes. They fell asleep like that.”

Mr. Sinclair returned and silently shoved a twenty dollar bill in Steve’s hand. Steve’s eyes nearly fell out of his head. “Sir, I can’t, I can’t, I was only here for two and a half hours, this is way too-”

“You will take it and you will like it.”

Steve pressed his lips together and looked between the two parents, smiling a little. “Well um…thank you.”

Mrs. Sinclair reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “Thank _you. _You can babysit anytime, sweetie. Drive safe going home, okay?”

“Will do. Good night, Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair.”

He closed the door behind him, softly, and walked to his car, eyeing the money in his hand. As soon as he got into the driver’s seat, he leaned over and opened his glovebox, rummaging around until his hand closed over the envelope he was looking for.

He put the money into his “Adopted Children’s Christmas Fund,” which was stuffed with the cash he’d had forced on him for gas, babysitting, and errands with the kids. Steve buckled, spared one last glance back at the Sinclair household, and headed for home. 


End file.
